Air conditioning system



Jan. 16, 1940. J. FRANKENBERG AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM Filed July 11, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 kyenfir.

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Jan. 16, 1940' J. FRANKENBERG AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM Filed July 11, 1935 4 Sheets-$heet 2 JZ/VQJZZOQ.

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Jan. 16, 1940. J. FRANKENBERG 92 AIR CONDITIDNING SYSTEM Filed July 11, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I l 1 l l l 1 l 1 20K $5 z mzz/ezz y wq 'zz Q95.

Patented Jan. 16, 1940 CONDITIONING srs'rniu Julius Frankenberg, Chicago, 111.; Lester Frankenberg,

administrator oi estate, of Julius Frankenbergdeceased, assignor,rby meme aasignments, -to Lester Frankenberg ApplicationJu Lv' 11, i935, sm l 30,025

some; rouse-13s) msmvenu n relate to airrconditioning systems and involvesiimprovements permittingthe use of airas' a'refrigerant; it is also concerned with improvements in refrigerating machines of the rotary type.., One object of the invention is to providejanflair-conditioning system which can be operated' e iiiciently, with a minimum of at tention, atrelatiirely low coiatz; Another object is to ,providean apparatus of this character a which canbe manufactured economically" in units of comparatively small capacity suitabla'for .ex

ample, for installation in individualhomes of moderate cost, The invention consists in certain features and elements oiI- constructionin com.- bination, and inicertain methods of operation, as herein described andas illustrated, in the d .awings; and as indicated by the claims.

In thedrawingsr and expanded, together with a combined intercooler and dehydrator connected thereto, section being taken as to therotary machine, substantially as indicated at line, on Figure 2.

5 Figure 2 1s a horizontal sectionthrough the rotarymachinaas indicated at line 2-2 on Fig "urel. T 1- Figure 3 is a'dean, section talren transversely of the rotarymachine, as indicated at line 2-2 bonFigure'L Figure 4' is a transverse section taken as indicatedatiine on Figure, 1'.

,Figuregfi is a:transverse'i section taken as indicatedat lineHonEi'gure 1. h I Flvure6 is avtransverse section-taken as indicated at'the line q-son'ruzime 1.:

v Fi'gurefl is a plan view of an aim-conditioning plant embodying this invention.

Figure 8 is anend elevation of thesame. p Figureiiiljis an elevation of-the air-handling apparatus separated from the'rei'rigeratingunit,

as indicated atlineEQon FigureB.

Figure l0 Isa detaiiplanyiew of a-check valve indicatedatline illlli onl igurel I Referring, first, to, Figure, i 1,21 have shown the housing, it, or my romfy air-circulating mechal to inter-member as the rotors, 22, revolve in op P posite directions and at equal speeds. Each rotor includes a shaft, 25, and a gear, 26, at one end of the shaft {the gears, 26, inter-meshing with each other, maintain the rotors in proper timed rela-;

tion, so that" their impellers and pockets shall inter-member properly. One of the shafts, 25, is provided with a coupling, 21, through, which it i may, be connected with any suitable power source, such as the electric motor'indicatedat 28 as Figure 1.

Intermediate their ends the rotors are each formed with two deep circumferential grooves,

2|) and 20 and sectional partitions, 30 and 3|, are fitted in these grooves respectively for dividing the machine intothree sections or stages.

. At opposite ends of the. main castingwhich contains the twin bores,.2|, the casing isclosed by headers, 20 and 20 containing bearings fort-he,

is closed by-a cover plate, 34, forming an oil-tight chamber in which the gears, 26, are housed. It

may be understood thatinsteadof the simple plain bearings, shown in the header, 20, I may provide any suitable form of self-oiling bearing which will not require frequent attention forens'uri ng proper lubrication of the shafts. The rotors, 22, fit the bores, 2|, with proper running clearance, and the partitions, 3|) and 3 are fitted somewhatmore snugly in the bores of the hous- H ing, 20, but they are not otherwise secured thereto. As seen in Figure 6, which is a section looking toward one face of the partition, 3|, this partition consists" of four parts, namely, two outer members, I|-,,and two inner members, 3|", the outer members and inner members contacting with each other, in pairs at vertical planes through the axes of the shafts, 25, and the two I inner members, SIP, contacting at a vertical. plane midway betweenlthese axes.

The outlines, of the sections of the partition, 30, are similar to those just described, but, as seen in Figure 2, partition, 3|, is made somewhat thicker so as toaccommodate a passage, 32, extending through it vertically and midway between the axes of the two rotors.

In each rotor, the impellers, 13, of the three sections'are in longitudinal alignment as are the spaces or pockets, 24, which are disposed circumferentially between them. This makes for simplicity. and convenience in manufactureas does the arrangement of the three sections or stages of the machine in the two continuous parallel bores, 2|, of the housing. The first stage or section of the machine, which is that adjacent the gears, 26, functions as an air compressor andisformed with an intake port, 35, shown at the v I shafts, 25. The header,2|l,formsa cavity whichv Figure l is mainly a vertical section showing 0 the rotary mechanism in which air is compressed u per side of the housing, 20, and the outlet, 38,

fat the lower side. Air entering at the inlet, 35, 'is trapped in the pockets, 24, of the rotors, and

is passed around in these pockets to the outlet, 36, where it is forced out by reason of the intermembering of the pockets of each rotor with the impeller portion, 23, of the other rotor. The air discharged by the compressor flows into a cooling and dehydrating unit, which comprises an outer cylindrical shell, 31, within which there is mounted a co-axially disposed helical coil of pipe or tubing, 38, whose terminals, 39 and 40, extend through suitable glands or stufilng boxes, 4|, in the heads, 42, of the shell, 31. Within the coil,.38, I mount an inner shell, 43, preferably of sheet metal, having a closed head, 44, at one end and a head, 45, at the other end which is not necessarily closed but serves to support the cylin-- drical wall of the shell in proper form. Spacers,

46, which may be short sections of structural-- angle stock, are disposed at intervals circumferentially of the shell, 43, to position it centrally within the coil, 38.

The housing, 20, of the air-circulating mechanism is supported upon the outer shell, 31, by means of suitable brackets, 48, and a hollow upstanding boss, 49, which contains a passage, 50, leading from the outlet, 36, for discharging the "air into one end of the shell, 31. Preferably, a

section of pipe, 5|, extends from .the passage, 50, to a point adjacent the axis of the cylindrical shell, 31, to ensure uniform distribution of the discharged air within the shell. The closed head, 44, and inner shell, 43, confine the flow of air to the annular space between the shell, 43, and the shell, 31, in which space is located the coil, 33. A cooling fluid is circulated through the coil, 33, from its inlet at 39 to its outlet, 40, and for my purpose this cooling fluid may be water taken from the regular city mains and discharged'directly to the sewer, unless some further use is to be made of it. As thus arranged, the inter-cooler is of the counter-current type, with the coldest water entering at 39, coming in contact with :the partially-cooled air which has already given up some of its heat to the water in the coils nearer the end at which the air entersthrough the pipe, 3|.

It will be understood that the shell, 31, is maintained under pressure so that as the air is cooled by contact with the coils, 38, its moisture will be precipitated and will drain to the bottom oi the shell, 31, where a sump is provided at 52 with a drain connection, 33, which may lead to a suitable trap, not shown. The cooled air is conveyed from the shell, 31, through'an outlet, 54, and pipe, 53, to the intake port, 56, of the second stage or section of the air-circulating machine, which includes the portions of the rotors "contained be-'-. tween the partitions, 30 and 3|. 58, the air is passed by the rotors to an outlet, 51, at the lower side of the housing, 20, where a passage is provided at 58, connecting with the passage, 33, in the partition sections, 3| This passage serves as a by-n ss to lead the air to the inlet, 80, of the third stage or section 01' the machine by way of a short passage, 59, formed in the upper side of the housing, 20, and communicating with. the upper end of the passage, 33.

From the inlet, 80, the air is transferred by the rotation 01' the rotors, 22, 'to the outlet or exhaust port, 3|, which discharges into a suitable pipe or conduit, 32. In the second and third stages or sections of the circulating machine the air is allowed to expand and to perform useful From the inlet,

-a -.suitable outlet, 80.

nection therewith, the temperature of the air isfurther lowered, so that it leaves the exhaust port, 6|, at an extremely low temperature.

Preferably, between the compressor stage and the inter-cooler unit housed in the shell, 31', I

interpose a check valve, 65, which is shown as a simple flat resilient member seating over the rectangular margin of the port, 36, and adapted to flex away from the port in opening to an extent limited by, an adjustable stop screw, 66, carried by a bridge, 61, extending over the port and accommodated in the hollow boss, 49. The second stage or section of the air-circulating machine acts to control and time the flow of air from the inter-cooler to the third stage of the machine in which the final expansion takes place and thus operates to some extent in the nature of a valve between the compressor and its associated intercooler and the expander unit of the machine.

In addition to the air-refrigerating apparatus which has just been described, my air-conditioning system includes air-circulating means by which the cold air discharged from the refrigerating machine is permitted to absorb heat from a quantity of previously cleansed atmospheric air so that this air is cooled togthe desired degree, and also dehydrated. For this purpose I provide a housing, 10, as seen in Figures-'7, 8 and 9, and within the housing I mount a blower, 1|, driven by a suitable motor, 12. At the upper portion the housing has an air intake at 13, furnished with a suitable filter medium, 14, through which air is drawn in bythe blower, 1|, to be discharged into the iower -portion of the housing at 15. Said lower portion includes a horizontally extended chamber, 16, within which is suspended a header, 11, to which the pipeor conduit, 62, discharges the refrigerated airfrom the machine hereto- .fore described. Extending downwardly from the header, 11, are a number of flat tubular fiues, 13, each communicating with the header and discharging downwardly into the lower portion of the chamber, 16. The atmospheric air drawn in through the filter, 14, and discharged into the chamber, 15, by the blower, 1|, flows between these tubular fiues, 18, and by reason of the low temperature of the air 'j'syvithin them the atmospheric air'coming in contact with the outer walls of said flues is rapidly chilled, and precipitates some of its moisture which collects in the bottom of the chamber, 16, directly below the tubular fines, 13, where it may be 'c onflned by a baflle wall, 19, and from which it may discharge through The air athus cooled and dehydrated by contact with the flues, 18, is discharged through the outlet, 3|, to the room to be cooled, or into such confining-"and directing pipes and conduits as may be provided in any iven installation.

The cold air discharged from the lower ends of the fines, 13, is commingled with the atmospheric air whose temperature has been Jowered and flows with it through the outlet, 8|, this refrigerated air having been already dehydrated in the inter-cooler shell, 31, as previouslydescribed. Obviously, if the temperature of the air I.

perature of the air flowing past the flues, an

equalization of temperatures will takeplace rapidly when the two supplies oi air are actually commingied in their outward flow through the dischargeopening, ll.

Since the refrigerated air is to become a part of the air discharged at 8| it is desirable that it shall be properly filtered and cleansed before entering. the compressor, and this is provided for by leading a pipe, 82, from the chamber, 15, into which filtered air is discharged by the blower, H, and extending this pipe, 82, into connection with a receiving chamber, 88, provided adJacent the air inlet, 35, of the compressorv unit. The

blower, H, will operate at a speed to maintain a for supplying clean air to the refrigerating unit,

and securing maximum volumetric efliciency.

In the air-circulating mechanism of' ithe reirigerating unit the proper pressures aremaintained by suitably proportioning the capacity of the compressor section to the capacities of the expander section and the intermediate section. The intermediate section of the machine comprising the portions of the rotors between partitions} 30 and 3|, with inlet -port, 58, and outlet port, 51, affords much less space for the air than that provided in the first or compressor stage of the machine. As a result, and also by virtue of the presence of the check valve, 65, at the discharge outlet of the compressor, a pressure is built up in the shell, 31, of the inter-cooler until such pressure is sufllcient to force the air through the intermediate section of the rotary machine as fast as it is furnished by the compressor. The capacity of the third stage or expander unit of the machine between partition, II, and the header, 20, is considerably greater than that of the intermediate section, so that the compressed air released by the intermediate section to the third stage is allowed to expand rapidly in passing through this portion oi the machine. This rapid expansion materially lowers the temperature of the air which has already been considerably reduced in the inter-cooler. At the same time, due to its pressure, it delivers a considerable torque to the rotors, and in this way a substantial proportion of the driving power is recuperated, with the result that the motor, 28, will consome much less current than it this recuperative feature were not embodied in the machine. Thus, the intermediate section serves for controlling the compression and expansionoi the air, as well as timing its flow in relation to the rotation oi the compressor and expander units. And all this is. accomplished without cams or gears, or any other complicated moving parts, because the intermediate sections of the motors are driven rigidly in unison with the compressor and expander sections, and provide their'own valve action as they traverse the ports, 56 and 51, through which the air enters and leaves this intermediate controlling section of the machine.

It may be noted that by virtue of the particu lar arrangement of the various units of the ap-' I paratus. provision is made for collecting any moisture which may be precipitated, thus preventing the moisture from being swept along in the air stream. The connection from the intercooler to the expander is by way of pipe, 55, which leads steeply upward so that there shall be no tendency for the moisture precipitated in the inter-cooler to be carried along with the air. Any moisture so entrained will rather tend to run back through the pipe, 55, and drain away in the inter-cooler.

so as to 110W into the collecting pan and out.

through the drain, 80, along with the moisture precipitated from. the atmospheric air flowing from the blower for cooling contact with the passages, 18.

While there is shown and described herein certhe spirit of the scope of the invention} and that the same is not limited to the particular form herein shown and described, except in so far as indicated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an air-conditioning system an air compressor, a heat exchanger to which the air is delivered under compression for lowering its temperature, a motor device in which the cooled air from said heat exchanger is expanded and further cooled by delivering mechanical work to assist in the operation 01 the compressor, a blower arranged to receive atmosphericair, a cooling chamber into which said blower discharges, conduit means in said chamber through which the cold expanded air from the motor device. is conveyed in proximity to the air delivered by the blower for cooling the latter; a common outlet at which the air from the blower and the air from said conduit means are commingled, and an additional outlet conveying a portion 01' the air discharged by the blower to the inlet of the compressor, together with air-cleaning means associated with the intake of theblower.

2. In an air-conditioning system, an air compressor, a heat exchanger to which the air is delivered under compression for loweringits temperature, a motor device in which the cooled air from said heat exchanger is expanded and fur-- ther cooled by delivering mechanical work to assist in the operation of the compressor, a blower arranged to receive atmospheric air, a cooling chamber into which said blower discharges, conduit means in said chamber through which the cold air from the motor device is-conveyed in proximity to the air delivered by the blower for cooling the latter, a common outlet at which the air from the blower and the air from said conduit means are commingled, and an additional outlet conveying a portion of the air discharged by the blower to the inlet oi the compressor.

3. man air-conditioning system, a hair compressor, a heat exchanger to which the air is delivered under compression for lowering its tem perature, means for collecting moisture precipitated from the air in the heat exchanger, a motor device in which the cooled air from said heat exchanger is expanded and further cooled by delivering mechanical work to assist in the operation of the compressor, a blower arranged to receive atmospheric air, a cooling chamber into There may also be a tendency for moisture to precipitate in the final expanmotor device is conveyed in proximity to the air delivered by the blower for cooling the latter, means forcollecting moisture precipitated from the cooled air delivered bythe, blower, a common outlet at which the air,from the blowerandthe air from said conduit means are coi'nrningled, and l 'an additional outlet conveying a portion or the air discharged by the blower to the inlet of the compressort 4. In an air compressorhaving a downwardly directed air outlet, an intrcooler disposed below the, compressor and to which-air is delivered through said outlet, said intercooler including a conduit for cooling fluid to absorb heatfrom said air and lower its temperature; and including meansinits'lower portion for collecting the moisture precipitated from said air as it is cooled, a' rotary motor device, a conduit leadingupwar'dly from said inter-v cooler thereto whereby the cooled air is expanded for delivering mechanical work and'further reducing its temperature, a blower arranged to re-' ceive atmospheric air, a cooling chamber into which said 'blower discharges, conduit means; in i I i I --a'nd the air from said conditioning system, a .rotary-'-airmingled-for discharge. p I l 3 5. The air conditioning method which consists in compressing a quantity of 'air, cooling it under compression and precipitating moisturethere-- from, then conveying the cooled air upwardly and xcooling air for discharge together.

said chamber and a connecting conduit leading theretoin a generally downward direction from said motor device for conveying the cold air from the latter into proximity to the air delivered by the blower for cooling the letter, said conduit means, discharging downwardly through the chamber into a spacea'dap'ted for collecting moisture precipitated from the air flowing either from said conduit meansor from the blower, and a common outlet at which the air from the blower conduit-means are'cornexpanding it to further lower its temperature,

, and finally allowing said expanded cold air to flow downwardlyinto and through a heat exchanger by the temperature of said atmospheric air is reduced and moisture is precipitated therefrom, and finally commingiing the cooled air with the JULIUS 

